Emotions Running High
by TheEightFoldPath
Summary: Carl is distraught over his mother's dead. His father is going insane. His sister's chances of living are slim. Who is there to comfort him? Who else but Beth Greene. Beth/Carl. Barl adorableness. Did I just say Barl adorableness?


_**"Great men are not born great, they grow great." - Mario Puzo, from The Godfather**_

Emotions Running High

Carl sat looking down at his shoes. Only a day ago his mother died. His dad was heading toward insanity. His sister's fate was still unknown as they still had no food for her. His entire world seemed bleak. It was like there was no more color to the world in his eyes. Only black and white. Beth peered at him through the cell bars. He was sitting on his bed with his hat to his side. He looked so sad. Like there was a gray cloud hovering over his head. She went over and sat down next to the thirteen year old. He looked up at her for a second. Looking up and back down so fast it could have given him whiplash. In that quick second she could see his eyes. His icy blue eyes now appeared as nothing but darkness. She wrapped his hand in her own.

"Talk to me." she said giving his hand a gentle squeeze. He remained perfectly still not making a sound. "I said talk to me."

"There isn't anything to talk about." he said blankly.

"Yes there is." Carl remained silent. "You can cry." That's all Beth wanted him to do. Shed some teeny tiny bit of emotion. It didn't matter which emotion. She just wanted to know he was still there. Even if that emotion was happiness or anger or anything. She just wanted to know her best friend was still with her. "Just cry. Or scream. Or smile. Or throw something. Just do something."

"I don't need to do anything." he said even more blankly then before. The one thing she wanted most now was for him to cry. She could tell he needed to. He wanted to. He just couldn't because in this world he believed you can't cry. That people would think he was weak. That people would think he couldn't survive.

"Yes you do. Your mom is dead. I'm worried." she told him.

"Don't be."

"You don't need to hide anything. If you cry nobody would think less of you."

"I don't need to cry."

"You can cry. Okay? You understand that?" he said nothing. "I cried when my mom died. I cried when she...died a second time."

"Yeah well your a girl. Besides you did a lot more than cry." She looked at him. Her eyes wide. Carl had been rude to people before. His dad, mom, Hershel, T-Dog, Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, and Carol. He had gotten rude with age, but he was never rude to her. Chills went down Beth's spine remembering the day she tried to kill herself.

"Exactly. I did. I tried to kill myself. So you can cry. You just can't do what I did." she said tracing his fingers.

"I'm not going to cry. I'm not going to kill myself. Now leave me alone." Beth wanted him to shed a tear, but what she ended up with was herself crying. Tears streamed down her face. Carl looked up. A worried look on his face. "I'm sorry." Beth looked up at the boy. She wrapped her arms around him. Then for the first time in almost twenty four hours he showed an actual emotion. Carl found tears falling from his eyes too. His chin rested on Beth's shoulder.

"It's okay. I'm just worried about you." Beth said. She backed away slowly. More tears went down Carl's face.

"I killed my mom." Carl said.

"No you didn't." Beth said.

"Yes I did Beth. I killed her. I killed her. I shot her in the head. One of the last words I said to her was I hate her. Then I just killed her."

"You did not kill her. Carl look at me." Beth said forcing his head to look at her. "You saved her." Carl's tears seemed to slow down.

"I'm a bad man." Carl said. She looked at the boy. _Man_. He called himself a man. He always wanted to be one. Or at least be treated like one.

"No your not. Your a good man. Your a great one." she said.

"I'm barely even a man. I'm. I'm a bad boy. It sounds weird. Like I'm a dog or a toddler, but I am. I am a bad boy." Beth started to get angry.

"Your not a boy. You are a man. You a great. You are a good man." she said.

"No I'm not. I'm not as strong as Daryl. Or as wise as Hershel. Or as smart as my dad. Or as...hmmm...whatever Glenn does as Glenn. Their great men. I'm just a weak stupid kid." he said showing a smirk in between tears for the last part. Beth laughed a little too.

"Don't think like that. You don't need to be like any body. You just need to be you. You need to be your own man. Your own _good man_. If you truly still don't believe you are a good man. Remember you still have the rest of your life to _grow great_. In this world the rest of your life might not seem long, but you will survive Carl. You are strong. You are great. In your own special way." she said. He looked up at her. His crying had stopped. They stared into each others eyes for a moment. Carl quickly leaned in and pressed their lips together. Beth was shocked. She wanted to break it. She couldn't though. It just felt...natural. She allowed him to lead the kiss. She could tell it was his first. She didn't care though. She soon took control and allowed him to explore the insides of her mouth. Carl loved the feeling of the lips together. He had always liked Beth. From the moment that he woke up in that bed after getting shot. She was one of the first people he met. He was always so jealous of Jimmy. How he got to kiss her, but now he was the one kissing her. Her lips were soft. He regretfully broke the kiss. He felt a smile grow on his face as they looked at each other. Carl hardly knew what love was. He used to hear his mom and dad say it to each other. He hears Maggie and Glenn say it. He used to not know what it felt like, but he had an idea now.

"I care about you. A lot." Carl told her.

"I care about you too." Beth said. She knew what he was trying to say. It was just that right now he couldn't say it. She could. He just couldn't. He didn't know how. He just had his first kiss. She didn't to rush his decision. He already had a lot of emotion on his shoulder. Pressure of telling a girl he loved her would just add to that weight. They shared another kiss. This one was quicker, but just as passionate. Carl opened his mouth to say something. He opened and closed it almost like he didn't know what to say. Or how to put it which is what Beth thought was going on.

"I like you. I like like you. I don't know. I just I do-" he said before being interrupted by Beth placing a finger on his lips.

"Don't say anything now. I can wait till you can sort out your emotions." Beth said. She would wait. She would wait forever if she had to. She had told a boy she loved him before. She never meant it thought, but with Carl she knew that she loved him. She just hadn't realized it until he kissed her. Until he shared his emotions. Carl smiled at her again. Hershel limped himself into the cell using the crutches. Carl was worried he saw. He was shaking with fear just thinking of what Hershel would do to him. He was furious about Glenn and that daughter was in her twenties.

"Maggie and Daryl are back." he said smiling. He walked out with Glenn helping him. Hershel let go of Glenn and walked by himself. Beth grabbed Carl's hand and led him out. When they were out of the cell she let go. They walked out of the prison. Glenn was holding the new born in his arms. Hershel was taking care of it, but with his crutches Hershel couldn't hold the baby while walking. Beth hugged Maggie as Daryl took out the food. As they walked back into the prison Carl gave Beth a look. They locked eye contact and smiled. He was finally showing emotion again.

**Hope you enjoyed the story. I'm doing a new thing where all my stories will have a quote about them. Tell me if you like that. I love quotes a lot! So I took my four favorite things. Quotes, "The Walking Dead", Carl and Beth, and Fanfiction. I might turn this into a multi chapter story later. By later I mean later though. Follow me! Favorite me! Follow the story! Favorite the story! Review what you think! Got an idea for a story or chapter? PM me! I'm TheEightFoldPath and I'll see you guys, when I see you guys. PEACE!**


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